Today’s real wedding style is pretty in pink, as the lovely Cassie marries her groom, Gareth, at her dream venue, Tyn Dwr Hall in Chester.
Cassie fell in love with Tyn Dwr Hall many years before getting engaged and had always held a candle to the beautifully restored venue, so once Gareth had popped the question, there was nowhere else she’d rather celebrate on their special day.
Girly girl Cassie knew she wanted to have a romantic, pink palette for the day and she’s pulled it off perfectly. With all the pretty, femine hues, a beautiful Martin Thornburg gown with barely-there, soft pink undertones in the full skirt and dreamy bouquets with roses adding a brighter pop of pink and mauve, we reckon she’s nailed it! And just wait til you see the sparkly Louboutin shoes!
With photography by Livi Edwards Photography
Proposal
Cassie says: We got engaged on the 9th September 2018 in Covent Garden. I’d booked a surprise weekend away in London to see one of Gaz’s favourite bands in a venue he’s always wanted to go to. It was an amazing gig and the next day we decided just to have a chilled day wandering around the city. I wanted to go to Ladurée in Covent Garden to get some of their macarons, which are my absolute favourite. We got a box each and then Gaz suggested we have a photo on a bench there. Whilst the photo was being taken, Gaz said I should open up my box of macarons and (after a brief panic on Gaz’s behalf because it was hidden slightly) inside was the most beautiful engagement ring. Gaz got down on one knee and of course I said yes. We went to The Shard afterwards for champagne to top off the most perfect proposal.
Setting
We got married on 13th September 2019 which was a year and four days after we got engaged. We originally provisionally booked a date in June but decided it may have been a bit too soon to get everything organised so checked back with the venue and they had this date free, which seemed to fit in perfectly. I’d always thought September would be nice for a wedding, as the weather is generally more reliable.
As Jehovah’s Witnesses, it is important to us to get married in our local Kingdom Hall in Chester. This also meant that although we couldn’t invite all of our congregation to the reception, many attended the ceremony which was really lovely to see. Afterwards, we had our reception at Tyn Dwr Hall in Llangollen. I’d originally heard about it years before through work, as it was undergoing it’s transformation into a wedding venue and I had always thought it would be perfect. They were holding an open day shortly after we got engaged so we went and it was even more stunning than I could have imagined. We both fell in love with it straight away and booked a provisional date there and then. I went with my mum to see another venue, just in case, but it didn’t compare even slightly and just confirmed Tyn Dwr was the perfect venue for us.
Theme
I’ve always been quite a girly girl so we went for muted shades of pink and mink with accents of silver. I couldn’t manage to find bridesmaid dresses in the exact shade I wanted but, as there were variations of pink throughout the wedding instead of one exact colour, they seemed to blend in lovely and it wasn’t a problem.
Dress
My dress, by Martin Thornburg, was A-line shape with a full organza skirt and long train, metallic thread embellishments throughout and soft organza straps. It was ivory but with a tea rose underskirt so had a slight hint of pink coming through. I found it in Along Came Eve in Chester, which stocks the most beautiful dresses, and I was looked after so well by Moria and Kendall. This was the second boutique I’d visited. In the first, I had tried on a variety of styles so definitely knew I wanted a full skirted “proper” wedding dress.
My mum and I picked about eight dresses to try on but we knew when I put this one on, it was definitely something special. I already had two other appointments booked elsewhere so decided to go to these still anyway as you only get to do it once and it’s so much fun! I thought I’d found another contender in one of these boutiques but after going back to try on my dress again, decided this one was definitely for me.
Groomsmen
Gaz wore a navy Donegal tweed suit from Ben Sherman with a contrasting mauve tweed waistcoat from Next to tie in with the colour scheme. I found ties online to colour match the bridesmaids dresses as closely as possible.
The groomsman all wore navy three-piece suits from Next, with Gaz’s Dad, who was also his best man, wearing the same as Gaz so they both stood out.
Bridesmaids
After a slight struggle finding something to fit and suit all my bridesmaids, I eventually found dresses from Little Mistress. They were maxi dresses, but as I wanted knee-length dresses, my mother in law was able to alter them. This also worked well as they could be cut to the exact length required and she also cleverly made a little flower girl dress for my niece from all the offcuts.
Beauty
Jemma Stenning from Vain in Chester did an amazing job of our hair and Katie Dootson did our fabulous makeup. Both of them listened to exactly what I wanted for both myself and my bridesmaids and they were so professional on the morning, meaning we all had a lovely relaxed time getting ready.
Transport
Gaz has always loved Jaguar E-types so we managed to find one we could hire from Classic Car Hire North. After slightly traumatic journey to collect it the evening before (dead sat-nav and depleting fuel tank disasters) my dad drove me to the ceremony in it in the morning. Then Gaz drove us to the reception venue afterwards which was lovely to have the journey to ourselves in the midst of a hectic day.
Photographer
Our photographer was Livi Edwards. I found her on Instagram and loved all of her images. She’d also already done a wedding at our venue before so I thought this would be beneficial. On the day she was absolutely amazing, she made us feel so relaxed and at ease and captured all of the images we’d asked for but still ensured we had time to enjoy ourselves and speak to our guests. When we received our images we were absolutely blown away and exceeded all of our expectations. We would definitely recommend Livi without a doubt.
Videographer
We were undecided at first whether to have a video but managed to find a local videographer, Catch Film, who suited our budget. We decided to go for it and we’re so glad we did. Rob was such a lovely guy, worked well alongside our photographer and made sure we had a lasting memory of our wedding without interrupting the day at all. All three of the men’s wedding speeches (but especially Gaz’s) were all so hilarious and had the whole room laughing so we’re glad we have the video to be able to watch it again and again.
Styling
Lily’s Flower House did our wedding flowers. My cousin, an ex-florist herself, had found and recommended them. My bouquet contained a variety of roses, eucalyptus, astilbe, lisianthus and astrantia in shades of pink and mauve, as well as some ivory. When the bouquets got delivered in the morning I was delighted with them, they were absolutely stunning.
We hired pink blossom trees from Uplit Event Hire for our centrepieces which all guests loved. Uplit Event Hire also provided our dance floor so it was easy just having one company do both and, as they are one of Tyn Dwr’s recommended suppliers, we knew they were well practiced with the set up there. Our florist did a few extra arrangements for the ceremony and reception area at Tyn Dwr and I also put vases on the top table to put the bridesmaid bouquets in to decorate that.
Favours
We chose macarons for our wedding favours, which I thought was a cute idea to tie in with the proposal. We found a local supplier who made them for us and provided them in clear plastic boxes. I also made and had our guests names tied onto them with ribbon to double up as place name settings.
Cake
My mum is very talented at cake decorating and kindly offered to make our cake for us. She had lots of ideas and I was confident she’d make a beautiful cake for us, so I mostly gave her free rein and let her make the cake she wanted. We ended up with a five-tier cake in soft grey, covered in delicate petals of various shades of pink, mauve and green to tie in with our outfits and flowers. It was stunning and definitely the best cake she’d ever made.
Entertainment
Music is Gaz’s domain and the one thing he really wanted for the wedding was a brass band. As the layout at Tyn Dwr only allows for a five piece band, it took a bit of research but he eventually found the perfect band who did a mix of reggae and pop covers as well as a few of their own original songs. They went down an absolute storm with all of our guests and had the dance floor full their whole set. We also had a DJ for our first dance and after the band.
My parents had organised a surprise choir to sing Les Miserables (mine and my dad’s favourite musical) after the wedding breakfast and speeches and they were incredible. Nobody, including us, expected it and it was such a lovely surprise.
Thanks to
Our venue! Would we recommend them to another couple? A thousand times yes! Tyn Dwr is literally the most amazing venue I have ever been to or will ever go to. Everything, from the stunning location, the hall itself with the gorgeous new garden room for the wedding breakfast, the beautiful and varied accommodation, the amazing friendly staff and the delicious food, really sets it apart in it’s own class. They really think of everything and are so thorough with the details in the run up that the day itself just runs like clockwork. All the staff are so professional and efficient, even when one of our guests fell ill. They dealt with the situation amazingly and kept us calm but in the loop, still ensuring the day ran to plan. We can’t thank them enough for giving us the most perfect day we could have ever imagined.
Best bit
It’s hard to pinpoint just one, the whole day was filled with so much love, laughter and happiness, we wouldn’t have changed a thing. For me though, the speeches were a definite highlight, seeing everyone we love and care about in a room together doubled up in laughter for a solid 40 minutes can’t be beaten.
Honeymoon
For our honeymoon we went to Sri Lanka and the Maldives. We spent five days in Sri Lanka with a private tour guide, travelling round. It’s an absolutely beautiful country with wonderful people and we definitely plan on going back to explore some more. Afterwards we spent a week in the Maldives for some much needed relaxation, We had a jacuzzi water villa which was amazing and meant we could go snorkelling right from our villa into the sea and see incredible sea life. The island itself was just like paradise too with the whitest sands I’ve ever seen, but it also had plenty of activities including kayaking, a spa and golf course to keep us busy. All in all, we had the most incredible time and were well and truly looked after and spoiled.
Advice
My advice would be to try to enjoy it as much as you can and not let the little things stress you out. It’ll all come together in the end and, whatever happens, with all your family and friends around you wishing you all the happiness in the world, you’ll have a perfect day.
